Opinions
Letters Policy
Letters to the editor are encouraged and welcomed. Writers should
keep letters as short as possible. Names, addresses and telephone
numbers should be included and all letters must be signed. Names
will be printed, however, other information will be kept confiden
tial. We reserve the right to edit letters for good taste and brevity.
Letters should be received by The News-Journal by noon on the
Monday of the publication week.
Letters To The Editor
CCC workers
being sought
To The Editor:
During 1983, The National
Association of Civilian Conserva
tion Corps Alumni (NACCCA)
celebrated a 50th Anniversary of
the Establishment of The Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC).
The NACCCA is trying to locate
about 2 million former members
and persons who were connected
or affiliated with the CCC during
the 1930's and 1940's.
It is a known fact that many of
these persons reside in North
Carolina and areas serviced by The
News-Journal.
I am sure that many of your
readers have often wondered what
became of the CCC.
The CCC lives again in the
NACCCA.
It is a young and growing
organization with 106 chapters
throughout the nation, and more
are in the planning and develop
ment stages. One of its major ob
jectives is to have the CCC reac
tivated.
A commemorative postage
stamp honoring the CCC 50th An
niversary has been available for
purchase for the past year.
Anyone interested in the
organization can write to NACC
CA, Leohmann's Plaza, 7245 Arl
ington, Blvd., Suite 318, Falls
Church, Virginia, 22042, for more
information and literature.
Victor Vengrouskie
Silver Spring, Maryland
Teacher pushed
for improvements
To the Editor:
Last year I was a student of Mrs.
Naomi Johnson, and it has come
to my attention that while she has
pushed for better rights and more
learning activities for students, she
was pushed against a blank wall.
Instead of losing her job, she
should be given a chance to further
her education and learning ac
tivities for the students.
I hope this letter will get more of
the students' attention to write and
help Mrs. Johnson in any way it
can.
Sincerely,
Ann McPhatter
FOURTH OF JULY
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Reporters cover
politico users
By Richard A. Viguerie
Most reporters go out of their
way to avoid becoming too friend
ly with the people they write about,
and most politicians avoid doing
anything improper in front of
reporters. But within a small circle
of elite politicians and journalist^,
the use of illegal drugs is common.
You haven't heard about it
because there is a conspiracy to
cover it up.
John Ehrlichman once said that
he knew of politicians who were
drunks but got away with it
because "there is a kind of unwrit
ten law in the media that it is not
discussed." Apparently the same
law applies to drug abuse.
In his book The Boys on the
Bus , Timothy Crouse of Rolling
Stone magazine wrote about
reporters covering the 1972
presidential campaign. Among
those featured in the book is
Hunter Thompson, the model for
the drug-crazed "Uncle Duke" in
the "Doonesbury" comic strip.
"There were usually a few young
reporters around with whom
(Thompson) could roll a joint or
share a tab of MDA -- not to men
tion the young staffers on the
McGovern Campaign. Even some
of the representatives of the na
tion's great newspapers had taken
to smoking dope."
In the 1976 Carter campaign,
"There were only two unwritten
rules," said a campaign worker
who later joined the White House
staff. "If you were married, you
weren't supposed to (philander),
and you didn't smoke grass with
reporters. But, hell, that's where
most of us got our grass." Patrick
Anderson, Carter's speechwriter,
later wrote, "If marijuana had
become an issue in the 1976 cam
paign, it would probably have been
because some of us on the Carter
staff occasionally smoked, not on
ly among ourselves, but with
friends in the media."
Dr. Peter Bourne was a close
confidant of Jimmy Carter; he
wrote the original 1971 memo urg
ing Carter to run for president. In
December, 1977, Bourne attended
a party at the annual convention of
the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML). At the party, Bourne
said, he saw marijuana and co
caine "everywhere." He said that
"about half the White House staff
was there that night, looking- well,
looking as though they belonged."
Reporters were also present, but
the story went unreported until
months later when the president of
NORML accused Bourne of snor
ting cocaine at the party.
After he was caught issuing a
prescription for Quaaludes to one
of his assistants - using a phoney
name for the patient - Bourne was
forced to resign his position as the
President's advisor on drug abuse.
In a subsequent interview with The
Po> smoking and^oSon"^,"
thewSt^H"10"8 the of
confiri,^H?uSe staff- 0thcr aides
S3 aiiegation( and
Carter a>H ^uotet^ a "topside"
maybe coke, too." 1111
So? reporter^agreed
S^SS
pXWaSagUCSt at NORML^rpor
^or* wrote that "The ? "
?<? journalistic c^SrS
?hc?sub!?' has seldom been'ra S
n the news media, many assumed
that an unwritten law h*H ^
,PnfnmU,g.atCd in the ^munity an
su&C" 'h" >h<
7/mcs-have smoked marijuana in
ofX Whf u 3nd With members
federal , USe staffand other
federal employees." The chare
w srs from 'h'?^
"are 'S'r'"' "e^?e?n
awful ,hi?gse likf smoking" pot
?=,,,?gadu|,ryiand(s,8ptK...
Hnfs^srsfr
S'CE 2?"
,UTh f??par? '< to colte"
cim 'ma^rl,"i'Ude,ow?rdco.
some Washinot co.mmon among
the ? 'CM u ? Journalists. O*
June 7^bM? ^s" las,
m?n?ging edito, S
people" aMhe'/w ?r0bab,y.40
regularly." use COca'ne
The rw^ mOSt "*** busted
mo-uT/dSrS^Ttv'
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